Kala : The Journal of Indian Art History Congress

ISSN : 0975-7945
FOUNDATION, DERIVATION, AND EVOLUTION OF URDU LANGUAGE AND
LITERATURE UP TO 1857

Mohd Tahir
Jounier Research Fellow at CAS, Department of History, AMU Aligarh, 202002.

Abstract:
The core objective of this paper is to review the origin and evolution of Urdu as a language of influence. The debate of the origin
of the Urdu language is very engaging and diverse. Various theories and arguments have been developed by different scholars and
linguists throughout the study of the origin and history of the Urdu language and literature. Its origin from different dialects such
as “Khari Boli” and “Baraj Bhasha” is also debatable. Apart from this unending discussion about its origin, the study of its
advancement is also crucial. Historically, Urdu is associated with the establishment of Muslim rule in the subcontinent. It has
adopted the Persian alphabet as a writing style and relies heavily on Persian and Arabic calligraphy as a source for technical and
literary vocabulary. Urdu had many names throughout its evolution and in the end, it became famous as “Urdu”, during the 19th
century. Like its predecessors, Persian and Arabic it also developed its own literature. Urdu literature was served and watered by
several famous and noted writers and poets of Persian literature. It had begun to become famous among Indian intelligentsia, a
newly emerging class in the Indian subcontinent, during the last phase of Medieval India. After the decline of the Persian language,
it became one of the main lingua-franca of Indian literates. So the present study will also describe that how the Urdu language and
Its literature became very popular among all the sections of Indian society at the dawn of the 19th century and how it achieved a
reasonable position in the Indian subcontinent up to 1857.
Keywords: History of Urdu Language; Urdu literature; Marsiya; Galib; Urdu Poetry.

Introduction:
A language is the method of human communication in a particular area or community, either spoken or written, consisting of the
use of words in a structured and conventional way. Human beings can exchange knowledge, beliefs, opinions, wishes, threats,
commands, thanks, promises, declarations, feelings, etc, through a specific language. Today, about 7,106 languages are being
spoken throughout the world. These languages can be grouped into more than 90 language families. Languages belonging to the
same family have certain structural similarities and share a significant number of similar and related words.
Linguists and Philologists have divided the languages of the Indian sub-continent into an Indo-European family, Dravidian family,
Austro-Asiatic family, and Tibto-Burmese family. Urdu has been identified with the Indo-European family of languages, along with
Hindi, Punjabi, Marathi, Persian, Bengali, Gujarati. Urdu is associated with the Nastaliq script style of Persian calligraphy and
reads right-to-left, whereas Hindi is written in Devanagri script, like Sanskrit, and reads left-to-right. It is a very difficult question
to answer that, how old the ancestor of Urdu is because the old surviving documents have only a few words that help us to trace
the origin of the Urdu language. The most common view, and one which contemporary scholars agree with, is that’ the Khari-Boli
is Urdu’s ancestry language. Meer Amaan (1748-1806), quoted that “Urdu is a Pidgin born during the middle Mughal period”, he
traced the language back to the time of Akbar. His theory is that “speakers of different languages came together in Akbar’s capital
(Agra, the area of Braj Bhasha), and during buying, selling, and trade a language (Urdu) was created”. Amrit Rai, however, has
traced the origin of Urdu back to the fourteen to the eleventh century, during the growth of Nath-Panthi literature. While the verse
line and the phrase of Nath-Panthi literature remain more or less in their original form, and older and archaic words are
unintentionally changed into more familiar current idioms. According to Tariq Rahman, “the specimens accepted as being authentic
by Amrit Rai are to be taken as being approximations of an ancient form of Urdu-Hindi”.i
However, Urdu developed more decisively during the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526) and the Mughal Empire (1526–1858). The
earliest verse dates to the 15th century and the golden period of Urdu language and literature was the 18th–19th centuries. Urdu
religious prose goes back several centuries, while secular writing flourished from the 19th century onward. Modern Urdu is the
national language and lingua-franca of Pakistan. In India it is one of the twenty-two official languages recognized in the constitution
of India, having official status in the four states, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand, and in two union territories, Jammu
& Kashmir and Delhi, National Capital of India.

Origin of Urdu Language:

To trace the origin of the Urdu language, we have to go back to the middle of the Indo-Aryan period, from 800 to 600 B.C. It is
marked as the coming-age of Prakrit and Pali, alongside Sanskrit. Prakrit received a boost from the Jain and Buddhist religious
movements and thrive in various parts of India.ii According to Philologists, there were various dialects of Prakrit, including;
Maharashtri, Shauraseni, Magadhi, and Ardh-Magadhi. Shauraseni covered the largest area and overlapped into the regions of
Magadhi and Ardh-Magadhi. For all the practical purposes it was the only language with all Indian characters. It is Shauraseni
Prakrit which was used in north India that the Urdu language is directly traced.iii

Volume-27, No.1 (II): 2020-2021 181

Kala : The Journal of Indian Art History Congress
ISSN : 0975-7945
The region where Sanskrit, Shauraseni Prakrit, and Shauraseni Apabhramsha had flourished before, now witness the birth of modern
Indian languages such as Haryanvi, Khari, Braj, Kannauji, and Bundeli. Braj Bhasha made its centre in Braj (Mathura) region. Its
stretch extended southwards to Agra and Gwalior. In the north, it reached up to Gurgaon and in the northeast, it encircled Aligarh,
Bulandshahr, Etah, Budaun, Bareilly, and the Tarai area of Nainital. In Bulandshahr it merged in to Khari Boli. The center of Khari
Boli was not confined to any particular area. According to Sir G.A. Grierson (1851–1941), an Irish administrator
and linguist in British India), that the language which had its sway over the areas of Delhi and in the north-west of Delhi, was a
variation of Khari Boli, with an admixture of Rajasthani and Punjabi dialects, but the main Khari Boli region comprised Western
Rohilkhand, Northerns parts of Doab, Ambala, and Kalsi.iv There are different theories about the geographical area of origin of the
Urdu language. The most common theory, and one which contemporary scholars agree with, is that the language of the areas around
Delhi, known as Khari-Boli, was adopted by the Afghan, Persian, and Turks as a common language for the interaction with the
local population. It develops a verity called Urdu. Whereas Muhammad Hussain Azad develops a different assertion in his Aab-e-
Hayat, he quoted, “everybody knows this much that our language Urdu is born out of Braj Bhasha and Braj Bhasha is purely Indian
Language”. Jameel Jalebi (a noted linguist and writer) believes that Urdu has a distinctive Muslim character. He does not deny the
Indic base of Urdu but he calls the Islamization of literary themes and the Persianization of language as improvements.v
The theories of Pakistani origin claimed that Urdu was born in the areas now in Pakistan as a result of Persio-Arabicization of the
languages spoken here. The pioneer of such theories was Hafiz Mahmud Shirani, in his magnum opus, Punjab Me Urdu(1928), he
tries to prove that Urdu was created in Punjab and Muslims took it with them to Delhi. A theory similar to that of Shirani was also
advanced by Graham Bailey that Urdu begin in Lahore after the Ghaznavid conquest in 1027. He describes that it moved to Delhi
and its surroundings, where it was overlaid by Khari and Punjabi. Syed Sulaiman Nadvi(1884-1953) argued that “the first place of
the arrival of the Muslim was Sindh and, therefore, it was this place that could be the birthplace of Urdu”. The ancestor in this case
would be Sindhi. In the words of Tariq Rahman, “each of these theories outlined above has political implications, the Indian origin
theory gives the ownership of Urdu to India; the Pakistani origin ones to Pakistan”.vi The theory of Urdu’s Origin from Munda and
Dravidian languages of some scholars and linguistics, for instance, Ain Ul Haq Faridkoti (Faridkoti,1972;264-266) and Abdul Jamil
Khan(2006), traces Urdu back to Munda and Dravidian languages are spoken in Indian sub-continent, before the Aryan incursions. vii
Here one thing is important to note that because of complexity and dubiousness, all the above theories have been criticized and
contested by Philologists.

Volume-27, No.1 (II): 2020-2021 182

Kala : The Journal of Indian Art History Congress
ISSN : 0975-7945
Urdu and its many Names:
Urdu had different names by which it has been known, at different points in time. The earliest Iranian and Arabs travelers referred
to it as Hindi, Hindavi, or simply the language of Hindustan. In the north, both “Rekhta” and Hindi were popular as a name for the
same language. In south India, it was known as “Dakini” or the language of the south. In Gujarat, it was known as Gujari. According
to Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, the “Urdu” word for the language seems to occur the first time around 1780. viii The most commonly
believed theory in Asia is that the term reached India after the advent of Babar and was used for only military camps. The word
itself is Turkish and means “army” or camp. The name Urdu for language seems to have begun its life from as “Zaban-e-Urdu-e-
mu’alla-e-Shahjahanabad” (the language of the exalted city of Shahjahanabad). It soon became shortened to “Zaban-e-Urdu-e
mu’alla”, then to “Zaban-e- Urdu” and then to “Urdu”. The above view is contested by Shamusur Rahman Faruqi with the theory
that this disowns at least four hundred years of the history of the language, when it was called Hidavi, Hindi, Dihlivi, Gujari,
Dakani, and Rekhta.ix
The initial phase of the development of Urdu language and literature:
The development of every language is to be found in its literature. The Urdu language had not yet acquired a literary form. This
newborn language took a century to acquire a definite shape. Amir Khusrau (1235-1325), who is better known as the great Persian
poet of India, called it Hindavi. He composed verses in Hindavi using Persian script and led the foundation of Urdu literature.
‫گوری سووے سیج پے مکھ پہ ڈارے کیس۔‬
‫چل خسرو گھر آپنے بھور بھئ چہوں دیس۔‬
Transplantation of Urdu in Deccan:
It is believed that transplantation of Urdu to the Deccan had resulted from two important political events, first, “the vast imperialistic
design of Ala ud-Din Khilji, whose famous general Malik Kafur annexed Maharashtra, Andhra, and Karnataka to the Khilji
Empire”. And second, the experiment of sultan Muhammad Tughlaq of transferring his capital to Doultabad (Maharashtra), in 1326
AD. Under this experiment, the whole population of Delhi was transferred to Doultabad, in Deccan. Urdu; the migrant language
took no time to settle itself in the new region and became an important medium of literary expression.
Early Urdu Poets:
In the south, the major centers of Dakani literature were Gujarat, Bijapur, Golconda, Aurangabad, and Bidar. The first writer of
Dakani Urdu was the famous Sufi poet Sayyid Banda Nawaz Gesudaraz (author of the Me'raj ul Ashiqi)
Two important poets of this literary dialect flourished in Gujarat, Shah Ali Mohammad Jan
and Sheikh Khub Muhammad. The major patrons of Dakhni literature were the Qutab Shahi
Sultans of Golconda. Among them, Muhammad Quli Qutab Shah (1580-1612) was both a
poet and the romantic hero of a love poem by his court poet Mulla Wajhi.
A personality with him Urdu poetry makes serious and definite start was of Wali (1668-1744), who is called “The father of Rekhta”.
Wali was far long considered to be the Adam of Urdu poetry.x He served as a model for the writers of the Urdu verses. His examples
and initiatives are responsible for the rise and development of Urdu literature in the first half of the eighteen century. His poetry
was deeply influenced by Sufism. His ghazals in his Diwan( collection of poetry) don’t follow a single trend and the moving
simplicity of the common Khari-Boli speech is found in his ghazals.
-‫ادا و ناز سِوں اتا ھَے وہ روشن جبیں گھر سوں‬
‫ولی‬- ‫کہ جیوں مشرق سوں نکلے آفتاب آہستہ آہستہ‬
The Delhi School of Urdu Poetry:
Part. 1; Age of Hatim and Arzu:
After its development in Dakhni form, Urdu traveled back to the north, where Persian was continued as the court language of the
Mughal Empire in Delhi. Urdu dared not to stand against it, and nor it had yet attained that degree of perfection. The early writers
of Urdu verses were all perfect Persian scholars and poets. Hatim (1699-1792), Khan Arzu(1689-1756) were famous Persian poets.
As following the footprints of Wali they also moved toward rising Urdu poetry. Their writings are replete with Sufistic doctrines.
Their style is plain and simple with greater Persian words. Hatim wrote “Bazm-i- Ishrat’ (masnavi), and “Shahr –i- Ashob”,
reflecting the woes of the societyxi.
‫جس کو دیکھا سو یہاں دشمن جان ہے اپنا۔‬
‫دل کو جانے تھے ہم اپنا سو کہاں ہے اپنا۔ ۔ حاتم‬
Their work was mile-stone in the progress of Urdu poetry and language. “By 1750, Urdu became well established in the Delhi
regions and Dakani declined after the conquest of Deccan by Aurangzeb”.
Part. 2; Age of Mir and Sauda:
After older poets of Delhi the next period is one of the great glory of Urdu poetry. It is the great age of Sauda and Mir, the two
great masters of Urdu poetry.
Sauda (1713-1781), the poetical surname of Mirza Muhammad Rafi, was born and brought up in Delhi and was at first a pupil of
Sulaiman Kuli Khan and Shah Hatim. Due to his popularity, he became a universal favorite and captured the attention of Shah
Alam, who was himself a poet of Persian. He worked under his patronage for a decade and then moved to Lucknow in 1772. After
came to Lucknow he entered the service of Nawab Shahjahuddula, and Nawab grants him the title of “Mulk-ul Shura” (the prince
of poets).
Despite a large composition in Persian, he wrote a Diwan of Urdu ghazals. He added two varieties of composition, the Qasida, and
Volume-27, No.1 (II): 2020-2021 183
Kala : The Journal of Indian Art History Congress
ISSN : 0975-7945
Hijv (satire and lampoon).xii He may be regarded as the real originator of these forms in Urdu poetry. He has great command over
verses. Before him, Urdu verses were lax and feeble, he made them soft and compact. His immense services to the language, poetry,
and the technique of versification are unique.
‫گل پھینکے ہے اوروں کی طرف بلکہ ثمر بھی۔‬
‫سودا۔‬ ‫اے خا نہ بر انداز چمن کچھ تو ادھر بھی۔‬
There are “Twin stars” on the firmament of his fame, “Qasida-i- Shahr Ashob” and “Mukhammas -i-Shahr-i- Ashob.xiii
Mir (1722-1810): Mir Mohammad Taqi whose poetical surname is Mir, and is generally known as Mir Taqi. He was born in Agra
but he had to quit Agra at an early age, after the death of his father. He sought shelter with his uncle Khan Arzu at Delhi. Khan
Arzu (famous Persian poet) instructed him in the act of writing poetry. Mir rapidly rose to fame and his verses were on the lips of
everybody. His proud and supersensitive nature did not allow him to attend the courts of nobles of Delhi. In an utter state of poverty,
he left Delhi for Lucknow, where he breathed his last. Mir was a voluminous writer. His Diwans of Urdu ghazals contains not only
gazals but Rubais, Mustazad, Wasokhth, Mukhamasat, Tarjih band, Tarkeeb band, Musadas, Malta-at, Haft band, Tazmin, Fards,
and other forms of composition. Urdu poetry is popularly regarded to be co-existence with Urdu gazal and as Mir pre-eminent as a
ghazal writer. He brought Masnavi to a high pitch of excellence. His Masnavis are numerous consisting chiefly of Satires, Eulogies,
and love tales. The most important of them are; Ajgar Nama, Shola-i-Ishq, Josh-i-Ishq, Darya-i-Ishq, Aijaz-i-Ishq, Ma’malat-i-
Ishq, and Masnavi Tambih-hl-Khyal. He also wrote a few Marsiya (elegies). He introduced Wasokhet, Mussullus, and Murabba in
Urdu poetry.xiv Mir introduced into Urdu poetry many Idioms, Phrases, and words from Persian. He used these in two different
ways, he either transplanted the idioms in their original forms or did so by their translation into Urdu.
‫داغ فراق و حسرت وصل آرزوے شوق۔‬
‫میں ساتھ زیر خاک بھی ہنگامہ لے گیا۔ میر‬
Dard (1720-1785): Khawaja Mir also known as Mian Sahab, with the poetical surname of Dard, has a small Diwan of selected
gazals and Rubais in Urdu. At the age of fifteen Dard wrote Israr-ul-Salawat, in Persian, then Risala-i-wahdat, Ilmul-ul-Kitab,
Nala-i-Dard, Ah-i- Sard, Dard-i-Dil, Shama-i-Mahfil. The last but most important is the Diwan-i-Urdu, one of the brightest jewels
in the crown of Urdu poetry. In the days of political decay in Delhi, he was a center of culture, when Khan Arzu left Delhi, he took
over from him the holding of monthly Mushayira, which in turn, was continued by Mir in the death of Dard. The Mushayiras were
held once and sometimes twice a month. Here assembled all the poets of Delhi, including Mir, Sauda, and Soz. After the Mushayira,
these masters of Urdu discussed how to improve the language, what words and expressions to import into it, and what to avoid. xv
‫سیر کر کہ دنیا کی غافل زندگانی پھر کہاں۔‬
‫زندگی گر کچھ رہی تو نوجوانی پھر کہاں۔ درد‬
Soz (1720-1798): Syed Mohammad Mir, Soz (surname) is known for his simple and elegant style, which has a touch of Monologue.
He has invented a distinct style of composition Ada bandi, which underlined colloquial pattern deliberately and histrionically
employed.
‫خاک میں مل گئ ادا بند‬
‫گفتگو اب خوش اوے کیا ہم کو۔ سوز‬
Mir Hasan(1727-1786): Mir Gulam Hasan, who is generally known as Mir Hasan had a great command over Persian and wrote
fluently. His biography of Urdu poets which has been published recently is written in Persian, provides distinguished literary facts
about early Urdu poets, and also highlights their contributions to the Urdu language and literature. His works consist of, a Diwan
of Gazals, eleven Masnavis, Qasidas, and a Marsiya on the death of Imam Hussain and Hassan(RA). His Masnavi Shar-ul-Bayan
is a romantic work in Urdu and a real specimen of his fame.
‫عبث تم سے کیوں دل لگاوے کوی۔‬
‫ میر حسن‬.‫بھلے چنگے دل کو جالوے کوی‬
Nazir (1740-1830): Wali Mohammad Nazir Akbarabadi represents a different tradition. It is the tradition of Kabir, Sudas, and Mira
Bai, but he spread his canvas wider. He is a great poet of the common man in Urdu. According to an English Lexicographer,
S.W.Fallon “The versatility of his genius is seen n the many-colored variety of subjects he handled”.xvi He was the only Hindustani
poet according to the European standard of true poetry. His poetry is a picture gallery of the sights and scenes, fair and festival,
pastime and amusement of the days. His poems on Holi, Diwali, Ghayan Ji ki Ras, Baldev ka Mela, Shab –i –Barat, and Eid-gah-
i- Akbarabad are picturized and shot through local colors. His whole work has been collected and published in two Diwans and the
Kulyat-i-Nazir.
‫ہر آن میں ہر بات میں ہر ڈھنگ میں پہچان۔‬
‫نظیر‬ ‫عاشق ہے تو دلبر کو ہر رنگ میں پہچان۔‬

The Lucknow School of Urdu Poetry:

The center of interest now shifted to Lucknow. The fortunes of the kings of Delhi were at their lowest ebb, thus the empty mantle
of Delhi fell on the shoulders of Lucknow. The Nawabs of Oudh were rich and generous, they were not only writing poetry but
posing as great patrons of poets. The school of Lucknow gave rise to some differences in language. Poets and people of Lucknow
peculiarly used few words and idioms. According to Lucknow School, their words and idioms were more elegant and more
eloquent. The difference also extended itself to grammar, certain words were regarded as masculine by the people of Lucknow,
which were considered as feminine by people of Delhi and vice-versa.xvii
Volume-27, No.1 (II): 2020-2021 184
Kala : The Journal of Indian Art History Congress
ISSN : 0975-7945
Major poets of Lucknow School:
Mashafi (1750-1824): Sheikh Gulam Hamdani, poetically surnamed Mushafi was belonged to Amroha (UP) and was educated in
Delhi. Later on, he migrated to Lucknow, where he was admitted to the patronage of Mirza Sulaiman Sheikh. He was a very prolific
writer in both Persian and Urdu. His gazals have lyric quality, which was become very rare in his time. He wrote numbers of
Diwans in Persian but his fame rest on his voluminous Urdu Diwan. His important works including, Masnavi-i-Dilpazir, Masnavi
Eejad-i- Rangeen, the four Diwans collectively entitled “Nau- Ratan”, Mazherul Ajaib, Majlis- i-Rangin, and Fars-Nama.
Insha (1752-1817): Mushafi’s pupil and rival, Syed Insha Allah Khan, whose surname was Insha, had great command over the
language and literature. He was the first Indian to write a grammar of Urdu language, Darya-i-Latafat (The ocean of Eloquence).
Insha was a prolific writer and he has left voluminous behind him. His Kuliyat comprises a Diwan or collection of Urdu ghazals, a
collection of Rekhtai gazals, Qasidas(ode) in Urdu, and a few Masnavis in Urdu. His “Rani Kethki aur Kunwar Udaibhan ki
Kahani” in prose established him as a master craftsman, who can write real readable prose without using Persian, Arabic, or
uncommon Sanskrit words.
Nasikh(1771-1838): Seikh Imam Baksh the poetical surnamed Nasikh, was one of the founders of Lucknow school. His fame rest
on his gazals. His gazals are marked by a colored and high flow of phrases. He has left three Diwans but only two of them have
attained publicity. He wrote the first in 1816 AD and called it Daftar-i-Pareshan. This contains gazals quatrains and Chronograms.
His second and third were compiled in 1831 and 1838 AD, respectively. The value of Chronograms contained in his Diwan is great
for they give the date of the death of many Urdu poets. He is also the author of a Masnavi entitled “Nazm-i-Siraj”. It is at his time
that the gender of the words was finally determined and fixed, and the sphere of the Urdu gazal was widened by the introduction
of themes other than erotic-philosophical and didactic.
Atish(1778-1848): Khawaja Haider Ali, whose surname is Atish was born at Fyazabad and was educated in Delhi. His father died
when he was merely a young boy, he came in the service of Nawab Muhammad Taqi, who brought him to Lucknow. The influence
of his contemporaries is visible in his poetry especially he was much inclined to Nasikh’s style of composition. His work possessed
all the fine qualities of a complete poet. His poetry is outwardly attractive and polished, but it has a lack of intellectual interest or
emotional drive. He fancied himself to be a great lover of beauty. He says; “zuban ko Apni bus ik husan ka afsana aata ha” (My
tongue can only recount the stories of love). xviii The first of his Diwan was compiled during his lifetime, it attained immense
popularity. His second Diwan was compiled after his death, and it also got a respectable position in Urdu literature.
Naseem (1811-1843): Pandit Daya Shankar, whose surname is Naseem belonged to a Kashmiri family.xix He was one of the
distinguished disciples of Atish. He started writing gazals in his very adulthood. The most unprecedented work, which proved his
great service to Urdu literature is his famous Masnavi Gulzar-i-Naseem.

Marsiya Writers:
The development of Marsiya reaches its climax with the rich contribution of Anis’s Marsiya or Elegy, which is a lament or sorrow
at the death of a friend, relative, or patron, especially a king. In Urdu, it is used in the specialized sense of an account of the
tribulation of Hussain (RA) and his family, which culminated in the tragedy of Karbala. Anis and Dabir gave it finished and
grandeur of style. According to Graham Bailie, “Marsiya is the highest form of Urdu literature”. xx Also, the Other Urdu writers
consider it the most dominant and admirable form of Urdu literature.
Anis (1801-1874): Mir Babar Ali Anis was born at Faizabad, and at an early stage of his life he came to Lucknow. Anis was born
a poet and received poetry in his inheritance. He had written a few gazals early in his carrier but soon gave up in favor of Marsiya
and Salam. He has written many thousands of Elegies, Quatrain, and Qitas. His published poems extended to five volumes.
Dabir (1803-1875) : Mirza Salamat Ali Dabir born at Delhi. He was a rival of Anis and was a perfect master of elegiac poems and
spend his whole life for the attainment of this object. He was probably the first to write Ramziya Marsiya. The service of “Marsiya
Nigari” render to the language is great and immense. “The five lacs of couplets composed by Anis and Dabir brought into play and
use many words and idioms and thus amplified the stock of Urdu words”.
The Age of Zauq and Ghalib: While Delhi was struggling for healing her wounds, given by external invasions and internal
political failures, the main center of Art and Culture had shifted to Lucknow. But a shimmering twilight was still captivating the
fancy of the writers and poets like Ghalib and Zauq.
Zauq (1789-1854): Sheikh Ibrahim, generally known by his surname Zauq was born in Delhi. He was the contemporary and rival
of Galib and a virtual poet-laureate of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal ruler.xxi To the Zauq, the title of Khakani-i-hind was
granted by the Mughal emperor. He is a master of gazal and qasida and has left a considerable number of each. His Masnavi ‘Nama-
I-Jansoz’ running over to five hundred couplets was a creditable performance that was lost in the Mutiny of 1857 AD. He is the
author of many Mukhummus, and quatrains. In qasida, he carries away his position from his contemporaries. His Diwan has been
called a “bouquet of variegated flowers”.
GHALIB(1797-1869): One of the greatest figures in Urdu literature and the most distinguished and genius personality of his age.
His full name is Mirza Asad-ullah Khan, and Ghalib was his poetical surname. He was born in Agra and spend his childhood there,
until at the age of thirteen he was married to a bride of eleven, and shortly afterward made his permanent home in Delhi.
The atmosphere of Delhi was surcharged with poetry and the various poetical assemblies were the order of the day and night. It
provides him a literary atmosphere, he was quick-witted, begun to compose poetry in Persian first and then Urdu. He saw himself
above all a great Persian poet, but what bounce his fame instantly, was his Persia prose, Urdu poetry, and most of all Urdu prose.
Volume-27, No.1 (II): 2020-2021 185
Kala : The Journal of Indian Art History Congress
ISSN : 0975-7945
Ghalib as a scholar ranked very high, he had gone through all the important works of his contemporaries, and Sufism, and he made
use of these doctrines in his works. He had no aptitude for religious Elegy or Chromograms, but some of the best of his verses deal
with universal themes, themes that have been, and probably always will be, intelligible everywhere. He expresses them in the form
of ghazals, in which a simple thought or feeling is encapsulated in a single couplet of the poem, although, he uses very tough
language. Ghalib, the man of universal fame, is an author of a large collection of Urdu and Persian literature. Some of his important
works including, Ood-i-Hindi, Urdu-i-Mualla, Diwan-i-Urdu, Kuliyat of Persian poetry, Qata-i-Burhan, Panch Ahang, Mahr-i-
Nimroz, Dastanbo, and Subdahin.
‫ریختہ کے اک تم ہی استاد نہیں ہو غالب۔‬
‫کہتے ہیں اگلے زمانے میں کوئ میر بھی تھا۔ غالب‬

Urdu Prose: (It's birth and growth)

As far as the earliest specimens available the history of early Urdu prose commences from the seventieth century, but these
specimens are only some pamphlets or religious books which were occasionally translated. The debut of religious prose took place
with the writing of “Karbal- Katha” by Fazli (Fazal Ali), he wrote this book in 1731 AD. The main content of this book is based
on Karbala-Tragedy. Another book, with the same content, was Mulla Hassan Waiz Kashfi’s “Rauza-tus-Shahuda”. Fazli translated
it into Urdu from Persian.xxii A work of religion in nature, of Shah Rafi Ud Din, son of Shah Waliullah, an Urdu translation of
Quran in 1803, was a significant event not only in the history of the religious movement but also in the history of Urdu prose.xxiii
Growth of Urdu prose under Fort William College: The Fort William College of Calcutta was established in 1800 AD, by the
British East India Company, with the object of training British civil servants in the language, law, history, and customs of India.
Dr. J.B Gilchrist, the author of a “Hindustani Dictionary”(1790) and “Hindustani Grammar” (1796), became its first principal. He
attracted Urdu scholars from Delhi and the united provinces for the cultivation of Urdu literature. Many well-known scholars of
the age including, Mirza Ali Lutf, Syed Haider Baksh Hyderi, Mir Aman, Bhadur Ali Hussaini, Sher Ali Afsos, Nihal Chand
Lahori, Kazim Ali, and Ikram Ali came to Calcutta. The book which is considered as the best product of Fort William College is
Mir Aman’s “Bagh-o-Bahar” (1801), a translation of the Persian tale under the title of Qissa-i- Char Durvesh, of Amir Khusru.
Besides Mir Aman, Mir Bahadur Ali Hussani, head munshi of College, has left two important works in Urdu. xxiv His works are;
Akhlaq-i-Hindi, an Urdu translation of a Persian version of the Sanskrit Hitopadesa, and “Nasr-i-Benazir”(1802), an Urdu
translation of famous Masnavi Sihr-ul-Bayan, of Mir Hasan. Syed Haider Baksh of Delhi, translated many works from Persian into
Urdu, his best works were; “Araish-i-Mahfil”(1801), “Tota-Kahani” (1801), “Gul-i-Magfirat”, “Gulzar-i-Danish”, “Qisa-i- Laila-
o-Majnun”, and “Qisa-i-Mah-o-Mah.xxv
Among other works, done under the patronage of Fort William college, some of them are important to mention here, For instance;
a translation of Sadi’s Gulistan into Urdu by Sher Ali Afsos (1799), an Urdu adaptation of famous Sakantala Nakat of Kalidasa by
Kazim Ali Jawan, under the title of “Sakanta-Natak-Jawan”(1801), Nihal Chand’s “Mazhab-i-Ishq”(1804), an adaptation of
Persian masnavi, “Gul-i-Bakawali”, and a metrical translation into Urdu, of Sadi’s Pand-Nama, by Mirza Ali Lutf. Although the
College made no original contribution to the Urdu literature, generally were translations and adaptations, but it granted patronage,
which was necessary for the development of prose literature.
Urdu Prose under Delhi College: Delhi College was established in 1825, for the Indian students, planed to teach Modern Sciences
and Humanities through the medium of Urdu. In 1844, a vernacular Translation Society was established by this college, which
translated and published books on Scientific Subjects. Professor Ram Chandra (1821-1880) published two Urdu journals, Ajaib-i-
Rozgar and Tazkirat-ul-Kamilen, devoted mainly to the propagation of western ideas and scientific values. Others among the Delhi
translators were Molvi Mumlook Ali, Moti Lal Delhavi, Master Hussaini, Dharam Narain, Wazi Ali, Gulam Ali, and Muhammad
Ahsan. Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic classics were also taken up and the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Livawati, Dharmashastra,
Shakuntala, and Raguvansha were translated into Urdu.
Lucknow School: Lucknow School has produced several Urdu prose works, during the nineteenth century. Fasanah-i-Ajaib
(1824), of Rajab Ali Saroor, and “Bustan-i-Hikmat”(1835), of Faqir Mohd Goya, are two main prose works of Luknow School. In
1835, Urdu became an official language in District Courts, the replacement of Persian by Urdu called for the translation of various
Laws into Urdu. Two distinguished prose masters, Molvi Zakaullah and Molvi Nazir Ahmed made their names as legal translators.
Khutoot-i-Ghalib; Galib, a versatile personality of the nineteenth century, was not only a bi-lingual poet but more than that he was
a commendable prose writer of Persian and Urdu. His works in Urdu prose are including, His letters (Khutoot-i-Galib), reviews of
some Persian books, and three short pamphlets, entitled, Lataif-i-Galib, Teg-i-Tez, and Nama-i-Ghalib. The most interesting and
important of his Urdu prose are his charming letters, collected and published in two books, Known as “Urdu-i-Mullah” and “O’oh-
i-Hindi”. After 1848, he started writing his letters in Urdu, and after 1850, Ghalib, for the most part, gave up writing his letters in
Persian and change over to Urdu instead.xxvi His letters are autobiographical and describe the days of his life.

Conclusion:
The above study of the ‘Origin and evolution of Urdu language and literature up to 1857’ makes it crystal clear that like other
languages of the world, the exact origin of the Urdu language is also obscure. Though some tried to trace the origin of the Urdu
language to the mid-Indo-Aryan period from 800 to 600 BC, followed by the age of Prakrit and Pali. Mahmud Ghazni annexed
Punjab in 1027A.D and settled his army of occupation in Lahore. His descendants held Punjab till 1187A.D, and then came
Volume-27, No.1 (II): 2020-2021 186
Kala : The Journal of Indian Art History Congress
ISSN : 0975-7945
Muhammad Ghori, who captured Delhi in 1193A.D. This all took more than 200 years, during this long period, Punjab, Delhi, and
other northern areas were largely dominated by foreign troops. The soldiers and people met in daily intercourse and needed a
common language, Persian was the language of soldiers (foreigners), had many Arabic and few Turkish words. Whereas local
people spoke different dialects including Khari and Braj Bahasa. After centuries of amalgamation between local inhabitants and
foreigners a new language came into existence which was known as Hindavi, Hindustani, or Hindi, and later derived to Urdu. As
for as, the debate of the origin of Urdu is concerned, there are different theories of different scholars. According to some Pakistan-
based scholars, Urdu was born in Punjab and Punjabi is its real ancestor while some view that Sindh is the birthplace and Sindhi is
its ancestor. On the other hand, most Indian philologists and scholars view that the origin of the Urdu language took place in Delhi
and its surrounding areas, and the dialects spoken in this region became the base of the Urdu language.
The development of every language is associated with its literature, and the literature of Urdu language developed with the
emergence of different schools of Urdu poetry, starting with the Delhi School of Hatim, Arzu, Mir, Sauda, and Dard. The Lucknow
school of thought and its contribution can never be ignored, particularly the role of Masshafi, Insha, Nasik, Atish, Naseem, and
others. The debate of Urdu language and literature would remain insufficient if we will not count the role of Mirza Ghalib. His
power of expression and philosophical attitude gave a new life to Urdu literature. His Diwan of Poetry and excellent letters are
eternal. The establishment of Fort William College played a vital role in the development of Urdu prose. In the post-Mughal era;
Mirza Ali Lutf, Syed Haider Baksh Hyderi, Mir Aman, Bhadur Ali Hussain, Sher Ali Afsos, Nihal Chand Lahori, are the prominent
number among Urdu prose Writers up to 1857.

References:

i
TARIQ RAHMAN, From Hindi to Urdu, 1st edition, Orient Black Swan, Hyderabad, 2011, 56.
ii
Syed Ahtisham Hussain, Urdu Adab ki Tanqidi Tareekh, 1st edition, Director Qaumi Council Bara-e- Farogh-e- Zaban Urdu
New Delhi;1999 ,p, 10.
iii
Ali Jawad Zaidi, A History of URDU LITERATURE, 1st edition, Sahitya Akadmi, Delhi 1993,np, 03.
iv
ibid, p.07.
v
TARIQ RAHMAN, From Hindi to Urdu, 1st edition, Orient BlackSwan, Delhi, 2011, p,80.
vi
Ibid,pp. 87-94 .
vii
ibid,p. 91.
viii
SHAMSUR REHMAN FARUQI, Literary Culture and HISTORY, 1 ST edition, Oxford press 2001, p.23.
ix
ibid , p,27.
x
Ali Jawad Zaidi, A History of URDU LITERATURE, 1st edition (Sahitya Akadmi, Delhi 1993).p 49.
xi
Ibid, pp, 76.
xii
Syed Ahtisham Hussain, Urdu Adab ki Tanqidi Tareekh, 1st edition, Director Qaumi Council Bara-e- Farogh-e- Zaban Urdu New
Delhi;1999, P.64.
xiii
Muhammad Sadiq, A HISTORY OF URDU LITERATURE ,2nd edition, Oxford University Delhi 1984, P.91
xiv
Ram Babu Sexena, A History of Urdu Literature, 2st edition, Asian Education House, Delhi 1990, p.27
xv
Muhammad Sadiq, A HISTORY OF URDU LITERATURE ,2nd edition, Oxford University Delhi 1984, P, 102.
xvi
Ali Jawad Zaidi, A History of URDU LITERATURE, 1st edition , Sahitya Akadmi, Delhi 1993, p.144.
xvii
Ram Babu Sexena, A History of Urdu Literature, 2st edition, Asian Education House, Delhi 1990, p.102.
xviii
Muhammad Sadiq, A HISTORY OF URDU LITERATURE ,2nd edition, Oxford University Delhi 1984, p. 138 .
xix
Syed Ahtisham Hussain, Urdu Adab ki Tanqidi Tareekh, 1st edition, Director Qaumi Council Bara-e- Farogh-e- Zaban Urdu
New Delhi;1999, p.104.
xx
Graham Bailey,A History of URDU Literature, london, 1932, p,64.
xxi
Ali Jawad Zaidi, A History of URDU LITERATURE, 1st edition, Sahitya Akadmi, Delhi 1993, p.180.
xxii
Syed Ahtisham Hussain, Urdu Adab ki Tanqidi Tareekh, 1st edition,Director Qaumi Council Bara-e- Farogh-e- Zaban Urdu New
Delhi;1999, p. 79
xxiii
Graham Bailey,A History of URDU Literature, London, 1932, p.83.
xxiv
Syed Ahmed Latif, Influence of English literature on Urdu Literature, 1st edition, London, 1924, .p.82.
xxv
Graham Bailey,A History of URDU Literature, London, 1932, p, 80.
xxvi
RALPH RUSSELL, GHALIB life, letters and Ghazals, The Oxford University press,2003, p.74.

Volume-27, No.1 (II): 2020-2021 187